Don't Leave Me
by TeachUsToCheat
Summary: With the uttering of words, her heart broke. With the snapping of teeth, her body went with it. Complete one-shot.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N – Oh nu bru! Mistakenly deleted this story, bru!**

**Hehe, well, I thought I'd get a fresh start, and only realised AFTER I deleted this story that I actually wanted to keep it. Oops. **

**Ah well, enjoy the reread, and post a review if you want!**

I leaned over Bella, waiting for her to open her eyes...

I didn't want to do this. No, I _really didn't want to do this. There were no words to describe how much I opposed to this plan. Bella was my life, and after this, I had no idea what would happen. But it had to be done._

_"Okay, Let's talk." Edward said_

_"Bella, we're leaving."_

_"Why now? Another year-" _

_..._

_"Bella, I don't want you to come with me."_

_"You...don't...want me?" Bella stuttered._

_"No."_

_"Don't. Don't do this."_

_"You're not good for me Bella."_

_"Well... if that's what you want."_

_And with that, he was gone._

I ran off, waiting for the unopposable pull that would take me back to her. I couldn't believe that she had taken the lie without suspicion. As though she was expecting it to happen.

But the pull never came. I continued to run, but even that didn't consume enough of my mind to stop thinking about Bella.

As I thought of her, her face revealed itself on the centre-stage of my mind. But her expression was distorted. My love's face was warped in confusion, desperation, disbelief and another unbearable human expression I cuoldn't find a name for. It was the look she had in the forest; the last memory I had of her.

At the same time, I felt an excruciating pain in my chest. As though my heart and chest had been ripped out and replaced with a gaping hole that presented itself at the mere thought of her.

As the hole ripped at myself further, I decided that I had to engage myself further, to stop me worrying. My immediate solution – hunting.

I felt the breeze carry the promising scent of a meal and let my instincts take over. I gave myself to the side of me that would have jumped at the chance to kill an innocent person without a second thought, and let it take me over.

I didn't savour the feeling of running when I was like this. I quickly remembered why I never wanted Bella to see this. The way I acted while I did this was sure to scare her off at the very least.

Another pang of pain in my centre and I finally found what I was looking for. The scent of a grizzly wafted from the south-east and I was captured by it. I wondered why there was one so close to town, but that thought was quickly dismissed when I smelt it's warm scent once again.

Grizzlies weren't my favourite, but they were still a good fight. Compared to mountain lions, they seemed uncoordinated in battle, but that didn't matter so much when you had strength on your side. I could see why Emmett liked these so much. His strength verses the bear's. Good match.

I knew I was close when I found its trial. But I also found my own. I must have doen a circle. I wasn't worried about that at first, but what I heard, smelt and saw next put things into perspective.

The grizzly stood over it's human victim, ready to pounce. The human had obviously given up all hope of survival, and was crouched in a ball beneath the bear's feet.

I wanted to save the human. It would be easy; take it from behind, cowardly, but at least the human would be saved.

But I was too late. The bear took a chunk out of the human's chest, and she lay on the forest floor lying in the growing pool of blood.

Wait, she. She. She!

I couldn't move. My legs had gone stiff, and the rest of my body stood in shock. My mind couldn't comprehend that the love of my life was being mauled by a bear.

I remained unmoved, watching as the bear sauntered forward to take another bite. Less than a second had passed but time was of no importance now. The only thing that mattered was to save Bella. My Bella.

When the bear took a chunk out of Bella's leg, I found the will to move. I moved into a crouch and quickly bounded over to the bear, easily reaching up to it's throat. I only took enough blood to kill the beast, because I knew there was something more important. My nose could easily tell me that, too.

I walked over to Bella quickly, observing her injuries while I approached. She was mauled to such an extent that a passer-by would most likely not even think she was human. Bits of her chest and legs were missing and it was all my fault.

I had two options.

Firstly, I could let bella die. It seemed impossible to let that happen to her, but I also didn't like my other option.

I could change her. I could take her life and soul away from her and give her another chance. I knew this was what she wanted, but I couldn't bear to do it.

_What would Carlisle do? I asked myself. And in that question, I knew the answer._

I knelt down at Bella's side and leaned down to her throat. I could feel the heat radiating from her, and her blood pulsing hurriedly through her veins. I savoured these last moments and I leaned my head further in until my lips were touching her throat. My lips felt like they were touching lava, the heat tingled all the way down to my bones. I gently kissed her neck.

But I knew that I would have to do this sooner or later. I bit into her throat, pushing the venom into her body. I felt the taste of her blood on my lips, but this time it didn't affect me.

Or some reason, this sensation felt oddly satisfying. I somehow enjoyed the experience, in a pervert disgusting sort of way. But when I heard Bella's heart slow a bit too much more than necessary, I knew it was time to stop. I pulled away, my animal side screaming at me for doing so.

I took Bella up into my arms and began to run with her. I felt her shaking, but she didn't make a noise. She was strong.

I continued to run, trying to ignore her increasing convulsions, and focused on the woods around me. I had hunted in her many times, and it's inhabitants had learnt to fear me; as they should. As Bella should have.

I knew this forest and also knew that there wasn't far to go. All those late nights giving Bella some 'human time' to get ready for bed. I knew that those days were over.

I was also worried about how we were going to cover this up. We had a property arranged in Alaska, which we hadn't moved to yet; luckily. Though we were scheduled to leave Forks soon. I wondered whether Bella would come with us.

I knew there was not far to go. And strangely, my legs felt numb, though they had no reason to be tired. The forest flew past in it's perfect detail, as always, though I paid no attention to this. I just prayed that Bella would be alright.

I was soon within range of my sibling's thoughts, and I could hear Alice envisaging my arrival. Thoughts were frozen as she explained that I was coming and it was a bit of an emergency. Alice tried to come on as subtle, but inside she was freaking out. Jasper had sensed her distress and was now trying to comfort her, but trying to get her to tell him what was going on. He was clueless, though maybe that was a good thing.

All of a sudden, the white porch became visible and I reached the door. Alice held the large door open for me with a solemn look on her face. I could see that she was trying to avoid looking at the convulsing body in my arms.

I raced up the stairs and into Carlisle's office, pausing at the door to see that his desk was already clear, morphine on hand. Alice must have told him. I wondered how Carlisle would do this, and my thoughts were answered by Carlisle's medical-based thoughts. I knew that he didn't want to think about what he was really doing, and who he was doing it to.

I would have liked to think about her like that too, but it was impossible. But now, as Carlisle silently surveyed Bella, I felt relieved that she was in good hands. Carlisle would take care of her.

Bella's convulsions decreased slightly as Carlisle injected the morphine. It wouldn't help her pain on the inside, but we could only hope. When Carlisle left the room, I sat down next to Bella and took her hand. I felt her small shudders as the pain engulfed her. I could not help but remember my transformation close to a hundred years ago.

_Flashback_

_I knew that every breath I was taking would be counted as my last. I also knew that my mother would not be enjoying this luxury. I knew she was dead._

_How I knew this, I had no idea. All I knew was that I would be with her soon enough. At this point, I longed for death._

_I vaguely noticed when Dr. Cullen came into the room. He began his usual checkups with what I noted as a sombre and thoughtful expression. It seemed as though he was deliberating something in his mind. It also looked very important._

_Dr. Carlisle's mind seemed made up when he looked up at me for the first time. He saw that I had been watching, and he walked over to the head of my bed._

_"I'm very sorry Edward, but-"_

_"I know – you don't have to tell me," I managed to cut him off with my coughs of speech._

_"I really am. I'm very sorry about this. I promised, I'm sorry," Carlisle said, disjointedly, before inclining his head to my throat. I could feel his cold breath blow onto my neck before he – bit me!_

_The pain was excruciating – indescribable._

_End of flashback_

I relieved that memory in all of its murky quality. Recalling it often meant that it had reduced a small portion of the cloudy film, but compared to my new sight, it was poor.

As a result, I could only imagine the pain that Bella was going through.

Days, hours, minutes or seconds passed. I had no knowledge of anything apart from the suffering that my love had been going through. If there had been a huge earthquake, I wouldn't have felt it. If pirates had taken over the world, I wouldn't have heard. Even if Emmett had won another wrestling match, I wouldn't know nor care.

"Please, please be alright Bella. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me; I didn't mean it. I'm so sorry," I said. I said it over and over again, until I gave up in a fit of sobs and rested my forehead against her uncomfortably warm hand.

It was a strange way to cry. It began as shuddering, then my throat closed up and my breathing quickened. It was a cross between croaking and choking.

My adopted siblings and parents all came in individually to console me. But every one of them had to leave the room, sobbing. They all knew that this shouldn't have happened, but I was definitely the worst in coming to terms that it actually _was happening._

This was my nightmare.

I still had my head on her hand when I felt Bella's pulse quicken underneath me. And it kept on going up. So much so, that Carlisle and Alice came in. Carlisle took her pulse again and concluded in his head that it _must be almost over. Alice confirmed it with a vision of what time it would be over._

The others eventually took their places against the wall, the guys in a slight crouch in front of their partners. I looked over when Alice cleared her throat and I saw Carlisle nod.

Bella beat her last heartbeats...


	2. Chapter 2

BPOV

"_Okay, let's talk." Edward said_

"_Bella, we're leaving."_

"_Why now? Another year-" _

_..._

"_Bella, I don't want you to come with me."_

"_You...don't...want me?" Bella stuttered._

"_No."_

"_Don't. Don't do this."_

"_You're not good for me Bella."_

"_Well... if that's what you want."_

_And with that, he was gone._

I sat there, not bothering to think about what Charlie might think. I just begged my head to make this a nightmare. A very realistic nightmare, but still just a dream.

He didn't _love _me. He didn't even _want _me. Well, what was I to expect? This could have happened with anyone. Just because it happened with the undoubtedly most beautiful person whom I loved with all my soul, it didn't mean it was any less heart wrenching. It was even more painful.

I was slowly sinking into my flood of depression when it happened. I couldn't see or hear it, my head felt like lead and a migraine was setting in, dragging me into a world where my senses weren't needed. I stood up and began to meander in his direction, even though his path was long gone. The leaves he had stirred had settled back into place. I head the wind move the leaves yet again and I thought I heard it whisper 'goodbye.' As though there was more than one thing leaving me today.

I sat back down on the moist grass, knowing that there was nothing I could do to turn things back. It seemed pointless to do anything at all. I couldn't find a reason to even walk home, even though Charlie would be worried.

I knew that staying here was just delaying the inevitable, but if it meant I wasn't in pain now, I was willing to take anything. I just sat there, waiting for something; I had no clue as to what it was. It could be Edward – but he would never come back. Charlie, even – he would find me soon, though I had no intention of helping his search.

And last, death. Unlike the others, this option seemed realistic and seemed to have more chance than the others in becoming reality. That or I was just making it easier for the hooded figure to come find me curled up in a ball. I hugged my legs close to my chest, and as I did so, I heard a rustle in the trees. I knew that if I didn't have Edward, this was what I wanted. I waited for the pain and suffering...

It seemed to be taking a while. Maybe it was only really fast if you jumped off a bridge or something. I was willing to do anything to get out of here. I could kill myself tomorrow; I just had to get through the night.

All of a sudden, the rustling intensified, rushing closer to me. I could hear the leaves being moved under its walk. Death's padding footsteps vibrated beneath as it edged closer. _Finally, _I thought. I knew this would be the best thing for me. A world without Edward wasn't a world worth living in. Even though that meant that no world was worth living in for me, I still felt better off knowing that I could wait for him.

Death came closer, and I decided to sneak a look at it; to thank it, even. I was surprised by its appearance, but I still knew that it wasn't a very good disguise. A bear was dangerous – deadly even. But Emmett could take it out in one shot.

With that thought, I felt an alarming ache in my chest. I figured it was the thought of the Cullens. My chest had been ripped out, replaced with a gaping hole that still ached. I found that I was no longer curled up as the pain intensified. Then I saw the bear.

The grizzly's mouth and surrounding fur were coloured dark red with my blood. I could feel the liquid seeping through my clothes and onto the forest floor. Yet the pain wasn't what I thought it would be.

I felt a sharp pain in my leg as the bear took another bite. I was waiting for my life to end. One more bite and I would be gone. I saw its shadow saunter forward to deliver the final blow. I braced myself.

The last impact was worse than the others combined. It was a blow to my throat, as if the bear wanted to decapitate me. The pain seemed to escape the confines of where it should be and my whole body was soon searing in pain. All I could feel was the pain and the ground not allowing it to seep out.

After a short moment I felt the ground fall away until only two beams held me. Then I was flying. The air somewhat deafened the pain, yet my body still screamed in agony. My voice wanted to join in too, but there was no point in that – no one would be able to hear me anyway.

So I suffered in silence as the air flew past me continuously. I figured that I must be going somewhere, but my eyes wouldn't see. Instead, I tried to take my mind off the pain by savouring the wind. It didn't work.

I tried again, paying careful attention to the things holding me. I couldn't be certain what they were, but they were cold. Not that they helped.

The pain burned every inch of my body. It was as though I'd been doused in petrol and lit on fire, only much worse. This wasn't the work of a bear.

I suffered in silence still, trying to find refuge in the cool environment around me. I had almost been able to concentrate when I stopped. The rush of air that had been blowing around me stopped. I was submerged into the hole of fire that I had been struggling to avoid. I tried to claw at the sides of the hole, but with that came no success.

Just as abruptly as the wind had stopped, the ground came back. But it was not damp and leafy; it was smooth, dry and wooden. That was all I could determine of the new environment around me – it was all that the pain allowed me to sense.

But wood would not help – it would just get burnt to cinders along with myself.

I felt a cool stick brush my arm, concentrating on my wrist. That was all I could tell, as the pain only subsided enough for me to feel that. I was still very amazed that I hadn't died yet.

Days, hours, minutes or seconds passed; I had no knowledge of the world apart from the fact that I was still in it. Death had decided to be cruel to me today. But maybe I was forgiven.

It wasn't much, but I could feel the pain subside in my fingers and toes. But just as a tiny bit of the pain disappeared, the rest strengthened. Though it was most ferocious at my heart, the organ that would soon stop beating. The pain continued this way for a time.

I could hear things, now. Maybe it was just my imagination, but the voice of an angel was reasoning with Death.

"Please, please, be alright Bella. I'm so sorry. Please forgive me; I didn't mean it, I'm so sorry," I felt a cold thing rest on my hand. Then something I didn't expect - the angel was crying. Uncontrollable sobs escaped from the angel's mouth and it didn't stop.

All the while, the recurring elimination of the pain continued. Its border was now somewhere near my chest, and the pain around my heart grew even stronger. I figured that its goal was to devour my heart after nibbling at the rest of me. There was not a strange numbness in my limbs, and I didn't like it. After all this time in my hole, I felt insecure to not have the accompanying pain. It was all very strange – I didn't think that getting mauled by a bear was _this _bad. I mean, the bear couldn't have chemicals to pour in the wounds afterwards.

I don't know how long passed before the pain stopped. Well, it hadn't stopped completely, but I knew Death must be soon. I could still hear the angel, but it wasn't my priority.

The searing pain that had enclosed around my heart was to be the end of me. The fire was thoroughly burning my insides, turning my vital organs into ashen remains. All the while, my heart was trying to fight off the flames, with no success.

Slowly, but surely, the fire engulfed my heart. The pain was worse now, worse than ever before. The last intact organ in my body was being burned at the stake. The fire may not be burning the rest of my body, but all of those small fires had combined to create one big inferno.

I tried to climb out my hole one last time – and I knew that this would be my last chance – but as the previous attempts had shown, I lacked the strength to claw myself out. Now I just waited for the fire to claim me.

I could hear my heart beating frantically, clinging onto its last shot at life. But I knew I didn't have the strength nor the will to go on. I tried to savour my last heartbeat, my last moments of life.

_Thump, da thump, thump._

And I was dead. But surprisingly, it seemed as though I'd gone to heaven. Because when I opened my eyes, I saw my angel.

His eyes were worried silly with concern. His eyes were of the deepest black and his lips were in a tight line. But those were not the first things I noticed.

The light above him was shown in shown in such detail, I could see the miniscule particles of dust that it raised. I could even see all the colours in the spectrum that the light threw onto the mahogany desk I was lying on.

The desk. I knew this desk. It was Carlisle's desk. I sneaked a look around the rest of the room. It was Carlisle's office. It seemed to be a bleak heaven. But maybe it wasn't heaven at all. Because assembled against the back wall stood 85.714284% of the Cullen family. But their stance was anything but casual.

Jasper, Emmett and Carlisle stood in front of their respective partners, slightly crouched and looking very serious. It didn't look as if Emmett wanted to give me a bear hug at the moment.

I looked up at the remaining Cullen and it all clicked.

I wasn't dead. And I definitely wasn't dreaming. Well, maybe I was. Because this _was _my dream. I would be with Edward for eternity. As a vampire.

Then I remembered how this had all occurred. Edward didn't even want me anymore. What was I supposed to do now?

In an instant, I was crouched in the corner of the room, cringing away from everyone. I was readying myself for the final blow in Edward's punch. This would truly kill me.

Edward cautiously came towards me, measuring his steps with care. For a moment, I completely forgot about what he had said to me in the forest, and I just focused on him.

He looked different. Apart from his severe thirst, Edward looked _weary. _As if he could use a good night's sleep. The purple bruises underneath his eyes had intensified, as though someone had punched him. But apart from that his pitch black eyes practically screamed out thirst – obviously to the person who knew what they meant.

Edward continued to approach, reading my eyes to see if I'd kill him or not. As far as I knew, I had no intention to, but that could all change.

I gradually eased out of my crouch and seeing as I wasn't used to my new senses, it became a fast, barely noticeable movement. Edward stopped briefly, gauging my expression. Then he started moving again, swiftly towards me, with no hesitation this time. Before I knew it, he was standing in front of me, and the rest of the Cullens were gone. It was just the two of us. I remembered the last time it was like this. I internally shuddered.

We started off just looking at each other. Edward was taking in my new look, and I did the same. He looked even more stunningly beautiful now. I tried to remember my Edward through my human eyes, but all I could come up with was a memory tainted with a murky cloud blocking its full potential. Yikes, big difference.

"How are you feeling?" He asked.

"Fine," I lied. There was a feint tingling in my fingers, but the real problem lay in Edward's future choosing of words. I braced myself.

"Good. Well, about before-" Edward started, but I couldn't bear to hear those words come out of his godly mouth, so I said it for him.

"Yes, I know. You don't want me – I understand." I said.

"No, Bella. You have to understand that-"

"Look, Edward," I cut him off, "- I wouldn't want you to be in a compromising position where you don't actually love me." Edward looked at me, bewildered. Maybe he wanted me back. Don't know why. Maybe it was because I was like him now.

"Bella, why would you think that?" Edward asked.

"Because you said so. Why would I think otherwise if you hadn't said? You obviously don't even want me here, so you know what? I'm going to leave _right _now. And seeing you don't love me, I bet you won't even try and stop me." And with that, I attempted to walk at human speed out of the room. It didn't work.

It was while I walked down the stairs that Alice came, flanked by Jasper and Emmett. They all had a determined, yet resigned look on their pale faces. Jasper's face stood out in particular, small, crescent-shaped scars lined his neck and arms. It reminded me of my own scare that I had received in the spring.

I took an unnecessary breath, feeling the air float around, not being needed. But something else accompanied the air. A smell so mouth watering, I was about to see what it was when I remembered. It wouldn't be chocolate or other confectionery. That wouldn't smell as nice to me as this did. Nowhere near – pity.

I thought of who could possibly be at the Cullen's. Then it struck me. Obviously, I couldn't reveal myself, so they must have had it seem that the bear had taken me. So, it had to be – Oh no.

It's Charlie.

I turned around, not bothering to wait for Alice, Jasper and Emmett to restrain me. I ran to the only place I felt safe in. When I got there, I realised what that place was.

Edward's bedroom.

Great, just the place I want to be. Not. I was tempted to jump out of the window, but I knew that they would get worried and wonder where I had gone. And what I was doing.

So instead, I just sat down, looking around the room I knew so well. Seeing it through different eyes didn't change the value of it. His wall of CD's complicated stereo system and the large wall-length window that overlooked the vast forest, and all the way to the river and the mountains. It was like nothing had changed. But so much had.

I heard a knock at the door and a hand grasp the door handle. "Come in," I said, and the door opened to reveal just the person I didn't want to see. Obviously, the odds of seeing this person were raised when I was sitting in his bedroom.

Edward paused at the door, seeing me in my ball on the floor, then came and sat down next to me. I cringed away, but he ignored that.

"That took some real guts back there," he said.

"What, running away from Charlie or rejecting you?" I replied. I had an idea of what he would say next. "Both," he said.

There was an awkward moment of silence before he spoke again.

"Bella – you have to listen to me. I wasn't telling you the truth in that forest and I only wanted to protect you. I thought... I thought that if my family and I left, you'd be safe. Obviously, I was wrong."

Edward looked meaningfully into my eyes and waited for me to reply. I knew I wanted to believe him; deep down, I knew he was telling the truth. But I couldn't deny that he had hurt me; in more ways than one. And that shouldn't be allowed in a normal relationship. Of course, this wasn't a normal relationship, but nonetheless.

Edward and I sat cross-legged opposite each other now, staring at each other, looking for a sign of truth in each other's eyes. I looked down and noticed his hands lingering between us. They were edging further away from the rest of his body, and I knew what he was trying to do.

I moved my hands away, instead leaning back on them, and resuming eye contact to see Edward looking down. I recognized his expression as the look he had had in the forest. In that moment, I knew what my destiny was, and who I was to be with.

I leaned forward and kissed him passionately. He was taken by surprise, but soon enough, he was kissing back. I felt a strange tingling with the kiss, a pleasant shock. It seeped down to my bones, and when he tugged at my waist, pulling me closer, it was amazing. I tangled my fingers in his hair and fastened my arms around his neck.

Eventually, I pulled off and whispered "don't worry, I believe you. Now."

Edward embraced me, and everything felt just right.


	3. Chapter 3

BPOV

We stayed like that for a long time. But eventually we had to face reality. We walked downstairs, and for the first time, it didn't turn into a superhuman spring, as I had Edward's face to distract me.

When Edward and I neared the dining room, we heard muted discussions and we silenced our pace, before continuing on. When I entered, everyone looked up. Emmett was the first to dispose of his stern expression, and he rushed over to pat me on the back and give me one of his signature hugs.

"Welcome to the family, sis."

The others stared at him when he took his seat, myself included. But the others soon followed his attitude, and I was getting hugs and kisses from everyone. To be honest, I was kind of freaked out.

Soon enough, the words of congratulations were over and the family meeting turned to a more serious topic: my secrecy.

It was Charlie that had visited, asking when they'd last heard from me. A lie was quickly made that I had been killed by the bear when I was walking with Edward, and he had tried to save me, but it was too late. He had then got lost in the forest, until Emmett found him. He was apparently supposed to be _scared silly from her devastating death. _I was so glad it hadn't come to that.

So, in the days since the attack, searches for my body were terminated and Charlie was preparing for my service. I wanted so much to come out and tell Charlie that I was still here, to save him all the sadness.

It had also been sorted that we were to relocate. We planned to go to Alaska where the Cullen's had property, but only for a short time. No one knew what we would do after that.

A week later, I stared out the window as I packed my bags of my new clothes, chosen by Alice. Maybe this wasn't my dream, but it was my reality.


End file.
